Welcome to The Brainy Business Podcast
Melina Palmer: Welcome to episode 22 of The Brainy Business. Understanding the psychology of why people buy today’s episode is building on the most recent foundations episodes to really dig into the power of habits. I know I’m ready. Let’s get started.
Announcer: You are listening to The Brainy Business podcast where we dig into the psychology of why people buy and help you incorporate behavioral economics into your business, making it more brain friendly. Now here’s your host, Melina Palmer.
Applying Habits to Business: An Introduction
Melina Palmer: Hello everyone, my name is Melina Palmer and I want to welcome you to The Brainy Business podcast. First, for those of you who have been listening for some time, you may notice that my voice sounds a little different today. I’m a bit sick, fighting a little bit of a head cold. I waited until the last possible moment to record this week’s episode, hoping that I would recover a little bit more, but this is what we have. I feel more like I should be the DJ of a smooth jazz station or something, but hopefully I will sound normal again next week and it won’t be too distracting. And maybe it’s just all in my head, who knows? Anyway, last week I really went deep into what habits are and how they work, how we’ve all been approaching them wrong our whole lives, which is why they’re so hard to break. Proven method to approach habits in the right way looking at the cue reward messaging instead of the craving response part of the cycle to both change your personal habits and to look at ways to interject your brand so you can become a habit for your customers. Why? Because 95% of purchases are habitual. If you have not yet listened to that episode on habits, it’s number 21. I recommend adding it to your queue because it’s a great compliment to this one and it has an awesome freebie you can download and work through with this episode as well, helping you to find ways to better understand habits and apply them into your business. That freebie is at thebrainybusiness.com 21 and make sure you tune into this full episode so you can hear all sorts of ways you can apply habits into your business, everything from holiday specials. There’s a reason I did this one. Now to podcasting or blogging, to apps and physical products. You will not want to miss these tips, so make sure you stick around through the end of the episode.
Listener Shout-Outs and Community Engagement
Melina Palmer: But before we get to all that, it’s time for shoutouts. This week I have another international shout out. Last week was for a review from the United Kingdom. A couple weeks ago I gave a shout out to a listener from India, who had reached out to me on Instagram and today is a listener from Portugal. His name is Nuno and he is with a digital marketing agency called Web your brand, and I have linked to his account on Instagram in the show notes, while I do not read or speak Portuguese, I really appreciate the great images on the webyear brand Instagram account. The most recent posts at the time of this recording show the most popular emojis to use on Instagram with a ranking of the number of times they’re used. They use great graphics to make it easy for anyone to understand regardless of language. So I get the tip, even though I don’t speak the same language, which is awesome. Nuno does speak English, though, and we were introduced because he reached out via email to let me know there was an issue with the footer on my lead magnet email. For those of you who’ve been listening for a while, you know, I have been struggling with the move to a new provider, and his email came from the old provider when it should have been on the new one based on where he downloaded from. Anyway, we had some emails back and forth, which I always do when people reach out, so please do so. And I appreciated him taking the time to let me know of this tech quirk to anyone out there listening. If you do see an error, please don’t hesitate to let me know. It may seem silly, but I can’t catch everything and I would rather know than not. As a small team of me, it’s easy to miss things. So anytime you let me know, I will always appreciate it. I do, of course, love hearing that you like things too and would love to get any of those contacts as well. Really, if you ever want to reach out, don’t
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hesitate to do so. I love connecting with my listeners and so thanks again to Nuno, the first listener from Portugal to reach out, which is, interestingly, number 19 of the top downloaded countries on the list of 82. So that’s pretty great. I have, as I said, link to web, your brand’s Instagram account in the show notes, and Nuno said he was catching up on all the episodes after finding the podcast and was only on episode eight, so it might be a little while before you hear this one, but thanks again.
Featuring Carol Cox and BizChicks Live
Melina Palmer: This next shout out is to Carol Cox of the speaking your brand podcast. She was kind enough to give me and, The Brainy Business podcast a shout out on her Insta stories, which I love. So I wanted to give her a little shout back. Thanks, Carol. There is, of course, a link to her Instagram Carol Morgan Cox in the show notes and if you like branding and public speaking, which is probably likely if you’re listening to this show, then you should check out Carol’s podcast as well. I recently listened to an episode about turning a framework into a course, which was really perfect timing because I’m building my first online course, but more info on that later in the show. It seemed fitting to give a shout out to Carol today because I met her in person for the first time at Biz Chicks Live, the most amazing conference put on by Natalie Eckdahl of the Biz Chicks podcast, which took place this last week in Irvine, California. Talk about a group of wonderful and amazing, inspiring female entrepreneurs. It was a fantastic event. There were women entrepreneurs from the US, of course, but also Switzerland, Australia, South America, Canada and more. It was inspiring and amazing and I’ve already bought my ticket for next year. You should check it out too. If you are a female entrepreneur and looking for an amazing conference of like minded women, check it out. Plus, Natalie is awesome and just launched her first book, Reset Your Mindset at the conference, which I have linked to in case you want to get your very own copy. It was actually Natalie’s advice to me at a one day mastermind I did with her back in May. That was the catalyst for starting The Brainy Business podcast when I did and really how I did, so I truly owe so much to her. If you like the podcast and want to thank someone, it would be Natalie as she gave the original encouragement. And I have linked to her Instagram so you can say thanks. There is also a, link to her website or you could check out the Biz Chicks podcast. She has almost 400 episodes, so there’s a lot of great information and tips in there. I’m sure there is something for you. You will not be disappointed. And thank you again to everyone who’s rated and left a review on the podcast. I appreciate you so much. Have you subscribed, rated or left a review? It’s super easy to do and subscribing means you never miss an episode. They download automatically onto your device, which is awesome, and you get them right when they come out. Just tap the subscribe button in whatever app you’re listening on and right there you can see the stars. If they are not yet filled in, I would appreciate you considering giving them a tap. Hopefully you feel five stars is appropriate and you can also click to leave a review. And if you do leave a review, keep a listen out on a future episode where you will probably hear me give you a shout out and a link in the show notes. That’s just my way of saying thank you.
Understanding Show Notes and Applying Habit Power
Melina Palmer: And now that I have mentioned the show notes a couple times, I just want to make sure you know what they are and where to find. I’m probably not going to mention them again, but know that anytime you think, I should make a note of that so I can look it up later. Check the show notes first, because I’ve anticipated those needs. I want you to be able to really pay attention, not worry about taking notes or retaining little bits of information to look up. So I’ve linked everything there for you. You can find the show notes within the podcast app you’re listening to, or by visiting thebrainybusiness.com. 22 because this is episode 22. In addition to the links to those who got shoutouts in this episode, you will also find links to any referenced or relevant studies in case you want to dig into those, and to any past episodes that are mentioned that are complimentary, kind of like sister episodes. So they’re just super easy for you to find and either listen to again, or if you’re just joining
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us with the podcast, in which case, welcome. They’re a good place to start digging into concepts that you already heard about on this episode. All ah, right. Now, let’s talk about ways to use the power of habit in your business. Last week on episode 21, you learned all about what makes habits so powerful and the best way to form a new habit, either for yourself or in business. Today, I am going to share a bunch of examples of ways businesses use habits to their advantage, and how you can too. And don’t worry, even if you don’t have a product full of sugar or caffeine, you can still benefit from habits.
The Habit of Anticipation: Advent Calendars
Melina Palmer: First, let’s talk about something that is a, staple of the holiday season, advent calendars. Do you get these for your kids, or yourself or your spouse during the holidays? In their original form, advent calendars would come with little treats like chocolates, and they essentially let you open one small gift each day on the countdown to Christmas or Hanukkah, and probably other holidays, too. It can make a nice little ritual with the family and a way to help impatient kiddos make it all the way to the holiday without too many tantrums. I know in our house we start hearing it’s so hard to be patient in about October. So it may have seemed like advent calendars were all they could be, a simple countdown with a tiny tasty treat. But some big manufacturers have found a way to boost their sales before the holidays and probably increase the likelihood that their bigger toys will be the focus of the big day. Did you know that Lego has an advent calendar? Yeah. Let’s say you have a little guy or gal who loves Legos. We certainly do. And you’re planning to give some large Lego sets for Christmas this year, but don’t want to risk them losing interest in Lego by the time the big day comes. For us, it’s a, constant battle between Lego power Rangers, superheroes and transformers. And my husband has just gotten little guy interested in Thundercats, which was not something I ever watched as a kid. But I digress. Anyway, if we are buying the five year old a bunch of Legos for Christmas, it is in our best interest to make sure there is a lot of excitement around Legos building up to the holiday, right? What better way than a, Lego city advent calendar? He can open up one new small Lego set, those little characters and things that are about four pieces each every day, and create anticipation for the big present, which he, of course, doesn’t know as Lego. But we know what we’re building to. If you remember back to episode two, the top five wording mistakes businesses make. I talked about anticipation and dopamine release. The brain loves dopamine. It’s one of the things that it’s constantly looking for, which is the reward in the four part habit cycle, also known as the whole reason habits exist. The excitement about what’s going to be inside and getting to see the next one building anticipation. That is where the real enjoyment is for the brain. Once it has opened the box, dopamine release stops. So creating a fun ritual each day can be great for anticipation and enjoyment. But you’re also creating a habit of opening a gift every day. The brain wants to keep getting those small toys for the dopamine, and that can be a hard cycle to break. The Today show just released their 21 best advent calendars of 2018. There is, of course, a link in the show notes, which includes Lego City and several chocolate options. But there is also a whiskey a day for dad, lotions and candles for mom, Paw Patrol or Playmobil for the kiddos and everything in between. It seems everyone is getting in on the advent calendar habit train. Is there something your business could do to incorporate advent calendars with your clients or customers?
Building Customer Habits with Starbucks and Scarcity
Melina Palmer: Along those same lines, I want to talk about the habit of coming back a little more. You all know I love me some Starbucks.
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I talk about it all the time on the podcast Starbucks does have the benefit of caffeine and sugar in their items, sure, but it is still important for them to create a habit of coming to their location, since coffee and sugar exist in other areas as well. So how do they do this? Let me ask you, do you have the Starbucks app? If you are a frequent drinker of Starbucks, you do likely use this. They make it easy to reload and pay from the app. And as you earn stars, you can redeem them for free drinks or other items. While they have a gain focused system, they have found a way to incorporate loss aversion, and that’s the focus of episode nine, if you haven’t checked that out. And, they’ve also integrated the power of habit into their app. They do this through little mini challenges that pop up all the time, like drink five Teavana Tea Lattes this week and get 125 bonus stars, which is a free drink, by the way. And you get to still earn stars for the drinks you consume along the way. So even if you don’t make it to the free bonus, you’re still getting stars. And sometimes they try to get creative and encourage you to try something new, like a breakfast sandwich or a drink you haven’t tried yet. Someone, with allergies, this actually backfires on me and makes me really irritated whenever I see it because it makes it clear that they don’t know me really at all and are just trying to get me to spend more. So be careful what lines you cross into knowing your customer. You may be inadvertently offending them when you get more customized on these offers. Anyway, the star challenges are always timed, which can incorporate scarcity, and they incorporate countdowns to help trigger loss aversion. For example, only two days left. Don’t miss out. And when they have challenges that encourage you to visit five days in a row, you can see how habits get formed. You can start a Q reward cycle pretty easily if the Starbucks is on your way home, for example, they have also done this in the past, even before the app with their treat receipts, where you get a drink for only $2 if you come by the same afternoon. So if you were there in the morning and you come back after 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 you can get a drink for much cheaper than regular. Talk about habit forming. And these are scarce because they only come out a few times a year, so people will be on the lookout, excited that treat receipts are back.
Melina Palmer: And speaking of scarcity and habits, let’s talk about Costco. I mentioned Costco on the episode about Scarcity, but I want to talk about it briefly again here. Scarcity can become a habit if it is ingrained in who you are as a business. Anyone who shops at Costco and has the mindset of oh, I better buy this now because it might not be here next time is in the scarcity habit. Seeing something you like at Costco is the cue that triggers the craving and anticipation of wanting to secure that item and not lose out on it. And you have to buy it to get the reward in the brain. To learn more about how to apply scarcity in your business and take advantage of its habit cycle, check out episode 14 on Scarcity. In case I didn’t properly prepare you for this, I want to tell you now that there are a lot of examples out there. Remember, 95% of purchases are habitual, so I’m going to go pretty rapid fire through these. If you have questions about any of them after listening to the episode, feel free to reach out on social media where you can find me on, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as @thebrainybiz b I z or send an email to melina@thebrainybusiness.com.
App Engagement and the Habit Loop
Melina Palmer: Okay, the next example is from apps. While it’s not the only metric that matters, and some would argue it really isn’t as important as it may have been once daily, weekly and monthly active users are still important stats for apps. Daily active users lets you know that people are actually using
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the app. Let’s say it’s a game, and if you want them to play regularly, you need it to become a habit. If you play games on your phone, and many of us do, you’ve probably noticed they have little bonuses you get each day or every 24 hours. You can spin a wheel for prizes or get bonus points or special daily puzzles. Really all sorts of things to get you into the habit of coming back each day to play. Why daily active users, of course. Just think how many people play Candy Crush more often, or simply open the app once a day to claim their prize and close it because they don’t want to lose the cumulative daily price because of these gifts. It’s a combination of reciprocity, loss aversion and habit, and it works very well. Our brains love it. And while I’ve already talked about the episode on loss aversion, there is not yet an episode on reciprocity. But stay tuned as I have a feeling it coming very soon.
The Role of Stress and Boredom in Habit Formation
Melina Palmer: Which brings me to the next application of habits. But first, I want to remind you how habits are formed and what they’re typically used to solve the most common problems solved by habits. The reward in the brain are stress and boredom. Boredom. Stress makes sense. You get stressed and you bite your nails or procrastinate or socialize with friends or check Facebook. Boredom also makes sense. You get bored and you play Candy Crush or watch endless videos of people frosting cookies and cakes on Instagram or go grab a snack. We get bored and stressed a lot, and the brain wants a reward to help overcome that. If you are really stressed, you might snack a lot. The brain wants rewards to help relieve stress, so it has lots and lots of cues all around. You make sense. When you’re at work and you get bored or stressed, what are you most likely to do? Probably take a break of some sort. Maybe you go get a cup of coffee, an excuse to get up from your desk. And perhaps you socialize. Like the story from last week where the author discovered his chocolate chip cookie habit was actually more about socializing. So if you’re a coffee drinker, do you ever get up from your desk during the workday for a cup of coffee? And this could work with tea as well. But the specific campaign I’m going to mention talks about coffee. If you do, you might just get a cup of coffee. But maybe that doesn’t do the full job. A few years back, Kit Kat, the candy bars, the company Kit Kat was having a sales slump. When it comes to candy, there are a lot of competitors out there, and Kit Kats might not be the candy of choice for everyone. But what if you paired it in the consumer’s mind as something that goes along with their break? Remember their iconic song? It’s probably already in your head right now. Give me a break give me a, break break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar. So they have a tie in with breaks that was related to breaking the bar into pieces, but it could make sense with breaks at work, it’s not that big of a leap. And so they started a very, you know, boring sounding campaign called Kit Kat and Coffee. Super basic. Maybe it sounds gross or weird to you to have Kit Kats with coffee, but, boy, did it work. According to CRN International, tying in with coffee and breaks made it so when people think coffee, they think Kit Kat, or when they think break, they think Kit Kat, and then they think coffee. However, that ties through and it becomes this great triad whenever they get bored, which probably happens a lot. They got convenience stores to put Kit Kats next to the coffee and played radio ads about Kit Kat and coffee and encouraging people to take a break. So what happened during the campaign? Sales went up 8%, and since then they saw double digit growth. On its ten year anniversary of this campaign, they said the brand grew from 300 million in sales to over 600 million. Not
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too shabby for a simple tie in and a, boring slogan like Kit Kat and coffee bonus. Do you know what, what other concept is applied here? If you’ve been an avid listener of the podcast, you might be reminded of episode 15, which was on availability. This is where one thing triggers the thought of something else, and when something being really easy to recall makes it seem more apparent in the brain. When I was talking about Cheerios last week, and that you would want to put boxes of Cheerios next to the milk in the grocery store, it’s the same concept. Or why peanut butter and jelly are often housed near the bread. Or why prepackaged cookie dough is in the dairy case, also near the milk. Because we have a habit of eating these things together and one can trigger the other.
McDonald’s Milkshakes: Solving the “Job to Be Done”
Melina Palmer: So, speaking of weird food campaigns that tie in with habits, let’s talk about milkshakes. Several years back, McDonald’s hired some researchers to help them sell more milkshakes. They had tried improving the product, asking customers what they wanted. Did they want them thicker, sweeter, chocolatier, fruitier? And even when they used the customer feedback to improve the milkshakes, they didn’t see an uptick in sales. So they were frustrated. The new research team included a man named Clay Christensen from Harvard Business School, who came up with the job to be done method. And I have linked to information on that here. The question, he said, is not about what the product is like, but what job it’s being hired to solve. Yes, I know it sounds like a weird concept, but I promise I’m going to explain it more here. So they had a researcher stand inside a, McDonald’s for 18 hours one day, taking copious notes about the people buying milkshakes, what they were wearing, were they alone or with other people, what time it was, did they get other items? Did they eat in the restaurant, or take it to go? You get the idea quickly. He realized that a very disproportionate amount of milkshakes were sold before 8:00 in the morning, about 40%, to be precise. And they were bought by people who came in alone, professionally dressed, and took the shake back with them to the car. On the second day, he stopped some of those people at the door when he noticed them coming back. Just like the day before habit alert, he asked them what job they were hiring the milkshake to do and while it was a weird question and took some conversation, they found out that they were hiring the milkshake to stop their boredom on their long commute to work. They asked about other items they had hired to fulfill this job and had determined that they didn’t want to hire bagels or donuts because they leave crumbs or sticky steering wheels and bananas wouldn’t keep them full until noon when they knew they’d be able to take a break and they could drink a milkshake with one hand and it fit in the cup holder. It took a long time to get the milkshake through the straw so it would last the full drive, keeping their brain distracted through the boredom. So what did they do? They did make the milkshakes thicker to get through the full commute and included chunks of fruit in the ones where it made sense to help them be more interesting for the brain. They also added some machines separate from the main line so people with a special card could get their shakes without waiting in the long breakfast lines and not have to worry about being late for work. Boom. They did the research to understand what was causing the habit and then made it really easy for even more people to make a habit and make sure those who were in the habit wouldn’t break the trend if it was too difficult to get that morning milkshake. This one is a lesson for digging a little deeper. If those people hadn’t been asked the right question, they never would have articulated why they were getting milkshakes in the morning. Check out episode four questions or answers for more information about asking really powerful questions. And think about this. Would McDonald’s have ever thought to ask that question without having the observations in the location? Probably not. Think
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about other brands that have done this. NyQuil came out with ZzzQuil because they realized people were taking it to sleep and they could take the cold medicine part out and just make it help you sleep. Plus bonus, an extra product. If you can find out that people are using your product in a way you didn’t think about or intend, that’s awesome. You now have a new way to market and message. Ever wonder why life hacks are so popular? This is one reason why people love making little discoveries and showing them off. And when you can turn that into a habit, that solves a problem. Big time bonus.
Breaking Habit Cycles on Commutes
Melina Palmer: This brings me to looking at ways to break into the cycle of habits. Remember, you want to use the cue reward part of the habit cycle, not the craving response part. I remember many years ago I had a fairly long commute. I mean, I don’t want to brag, but now my 40 step commute is pretty great. So when I have that old commute, I would often get stuck in really bad traffic. Shocking, as I lived at the end of a long road with a lot of retail on it, and it was the only way to get into the town I lived in. It could take well over an hour to go about 15 miles. Really, at any time of day, there was never a good time to go down this road. So yes, I definitely got bored. And there are a lot of habits on a commute and your brain is begging to break the boredom. Maybe you stop for a snack, maybe you listen to music or a podcast or call a friend or stop to go shopping. I remember one apartment building that had a giant sign across the roof of their buildings that you could only read if you were coming home and stuck in the nightmare traffic. Remember, everyone driving that way is going home. Almost no one is commuting into that direction. The sign said, if you lived here, you’d be home by now. In many ways, I hated that sign taunting me from the road, but they made a great point. How many people do you think considered moving there when their leases were up? How many people were sitting with their car in park because they’re not moving at all and would Google the name of the complex on their phones or save it in their memory for later? Probably a lot. This is genius marketing and a good way to break the habit cycle and try to form a new reward option. And this has the benefit of even if they’re the, quote, market leader for people that live there already, they’re really glad that they live there, right? So it’s reinforcing the benefit for them instead of making them look elsewhere.
Payment Habits: Defaults and Auto-Pay
Melina Palmer: Okay, next we are talking about payment habits. I mentioned this on the last two episodes. Defaults and habits about, auto pay on loans and really any product are great for habits. You might think that a mortgage is a one time purchase and not habitual, but every time you pay the mortgage and don’t look for another provider, you are habitually rebuying that loan. This goes for auto loans, insurance, and all sorts of products of this nature as well. When you can break the payment into very regular small amounts, it makes it easier to keep paying and doesn’t flag the brain negatively. Consider insurance plans, gym memberships, and so many online services these days, like email marketing or other subscription models, they give you the option to pay monthly for one price and you get a discount if you pay for a full year upfront. You know what I’m talking about, I’m sure. So we all know why they want that. They get paid upfront, which is good. They don’t have to chase you to get you to pay every month and you have less time that you will try and bail, right? Unfortunately, they aren’t thinking about what happens when it’s time to pay the big bill. When it finally comes around. I’m going to use insurance as an example. When you sign up for your insurance, they tell you something like, you can either pay $125 per month or if you pay the full amount today, you can save 10% and you will not have to worry about remembering to pay every month and risk forgetting and having your policy lapse. Wow, that sounds good, you say, so you pay the 1350 and go on your way. You truly can set it and forget it. Hooray. Then
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you’re enjoying those services without the pain of a payment associated with it. Throughout the year you see all sorts of ads for other companies saying things like 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance, but you don’t pay them much notice, at least consciously, because you don’t have a payment. You’re living the good life until you get a renewal notice. Your premiums have gone up a little for inflation and you just got a bill for $1,425. Whoa, you say, that seems like a lot of money. Am I getting the best deal? I better look around and see if I can save somewhere else. 15% would make a big difference and the habitual cycle is dead. You start looking and it’s bad for the insurance company. Now let’s look at the other scenario. Maybe you set up on auto pay for $125 a month and maybe you sign some sort of commitment upfront saying if you leave before six months there’s a penalty. Or maybe you had a little extra pain on your first payment for a lower monthly fee. So maybe your first payment was 425 and all subsequent payments are $99 a month. To have the advantage of the lower number, check out episode 17, unlocking the power of numbers for more on that. So let’s say you are making a, $99 payment and it’s set up on auto pay. Maybe you even got an extra little reduction in your payment for doing that. And it just pays. It’s easy. You know you’re protected, you know you have a good deal. It’s sticky and has become a habit and you’re used to the payment. If there was an incremental increase, it wouldn’t be as hard to swallow because you’re paying it so frequently, making it smaller, and you just are used to it. You know how much it is. So if that payment was split to be every other week and even smaller, or maybe even weekly, it becomes so easy and small, it’s hard to justify the work it would take to move it. Remember the episode on defaults? This is like when charities ask for donations and say for just ten cents a day, you can get this thing. Making it an easy small payment with a benefit helps it to become the default status quo and a habit people will not want to make the effort to change because it’s just not worth it.
The Power of Pre-Scheduled Appointments
Melina Palmer: And, this also made me think of appointment based businesses. Think back to hairstylists of the fifties and sixties. Women used to go in once a week to get their hair done and likely had standing appointments at the salon Thursday at three or Sunday at two. And I didn’t realize this, but apparently this has been coming back into fashion. And some women have started going once a week to get their hair washed and done at the salon and no longer wash it themselves at home. So here’s the deal. Whether you are a chiropractic office, nail salon, massage place, hair salon, if you work on appointments, why are you not encouraging a regular day and time for people to come in, make it easy to remember, pre book and hold it for them? People like to feel important and like they are remembered. I get my nails done every two weeks. I’ve talked about this on the show before and I always struggle to find the right time to book my appointment. I wait and then have to rush before leaving for a trip or picking up kids from school. And it isn’t as nice as it could be. And I often end up waiting for someone to be available for me because I procrastinated and had to go at a late time. I sit and agonize over the timing before I go and speculate that they must be busy today because yesterday was a holiday or whatever. And I never guess right because everyone else is doing the same thing. But what if they knew my time and who I preferred to have an appointment with? I get a special process on my nails that not all the girls know how to do. It’s a, powder dip. It’s awesome. I would be happy to talk with you about it if you haven’t had one before. And I like to get a design done when I do a pedicure. Another thing that not everyone can do. And again, I go there every two weeks, so they know me when I get there. They know there are a couple of people who can do my full appointment and we have a rapport. So what if they pre scheduled me an appointment every other Tuesday at ten or something like that and guaranteed one of my regular people would be available and waiting for me? And then they know I like the orange or lavender scent when I’m doing a pedicure. So they have the extra spot already and set for me. This becomes an experience I will pay more for. There is value in that for
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me. Check out episode eight. What is value? They also know they’re going to be booked out at that time every other Tuesday or whatever it is. And they can pick a time that works for their schedule and plan accordingly. And schedule so they’re able to book people who can come at off times like me, since I work from home at times that are traditionally slow. Similarly, I have a massage therapist I see at my chiropractic office and it’s really, really difficult to get appointments with her. Even when you book two or three months in advance, it’s like a battle to get times. And they don’t let you know when she’s going to have her schedule open up. You have to just luck out and call on time. It’s a real pain. And usually I can get appointments since I’m in every two weeks as well. But it sure would be nice if they were able to just plan or schedule in advance, right? Say I’m, every other Thursday at four, easy, and I just have that spot and I can plan around it, but instead I have to cross my fingers and jump through hoops and change my schedule to make whatever might be available. It’s a waste of time for the people at the front desk trying to book out times and search every single option. That could be so much easier if they just knew who her clients were. And there are plenty of us. I’m sure if they structured it this way, it would be perfect and they make recommendations that you should come every two weeks or three weeks or whatever. So anyway, when you can make it a habit and preschedule for people, it makes it less likely that they will break their cycle. For me, I was in a car accident about five years ago. I have to go and get a massage and chiropractic treatments very regularly or it’s just not fun. So I know that even if she’s not available, I have to get an appointment somewhere else and I have some backups that I go to. I still prefer her, but if it happens enough, or if a new therapist comes to one of the other places I go to and I end up liking that person better, I could very quickly find that I’m going to be jumping ship and it’s not worth going to this location anymore. All because they didn’t make that habit a priority and make it really easy for me to have that regular appointment that they’re recommending that I have. So when you’re able to make it a habit and preschedule for people, you’re doing them a favor, which they will appreciate. That’s reciprocity again and building the habit. Win win.
The Importance of Consistency in Networking and Content
Melina Palmer: Okay, we are getting close to the end of the episode and I have a couple more examples for you. First is in networking events and situations. This can include social media and networking in person. I think my friend Jen Mueller of Talk Sporty to Me has said this so perfectly with her advice to, be seen to the point, people don’t remember the space without you. This is a perfect example of how habit works with networking and social media. People have a lot going on. There’s a lot of stuff our subconscious brains have to process through every day, and if you’re not part of the routine, you will likely get forgotten. I’ve heard many people, including my friend Debbie Page, say the key to networking is showing up. It’s true, you need to be there and become part of the habit. You want people to be excited about seeing you at the event or reading your comments on social media. Remember back to what I said about anticipation and dopamine release. If the habit of checking social media is a cure for boredom and they want a surge of reward, one way to get that is from the connection with other people, and you want to be someone they’re excited to see comments or posts from. And note, this does not mean sharing a bunch of your own stuff on social media and never engaging on other people’s posts. If you want to be part of the habitat, you have to break from the herd and comment. Share and like other people’s posts. I talked about this in episode 19. Engage with them and selflessly share their content. Be interested and take the time. People will get excited to see your name and start seeking you out. Your name will become a cue for rewards. They might start commenting, sharing, and liking your stuff too because of reciprocity, but that should not be your main intention. Build genuine relationships in networking and social and actually be someone people are excited to see and spend time with. Business will come.
Melina Palmer: Which brings me to the
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last category, which is for everyone who shares content online. Is that you? It’s a joke because it’s probably everyone. So this is for the bloggers, podcasters, Facebook livers, Instagrammers, LinkedIn posters and YouTubers, Pinterest, pinners, tweeters. You get the idea, right? If you want people to be excited about your content and follow you and engage with you and stick with you, if you want to be part of someone’s habits, you need to be consistent. I know you’ve heard it before, but that’s because it’s true. And I’m telling you, the brain science behind it. Now, the human brain likes repetition and reliability. It is looking for rewards and it wants its cues to pay out. If it gets more than it expects. Awesome. That gets an extra flood of dopamine that can keep them on their toes and wanting to check back in. Reinforcing the habit. If they like something and get enjoyment, then it isn’t there when they expected it or it didn’t deliver what they wanted. Want negative brain reaction that can quickly kill a habit. And if you’re sporadic, habits will never form.
The Commitment to Weekly Podcasting and Future Courses
Melina Palmer: This also gets into the timing of things. When I was getting ready to launch my podcast, my husband tried more than once to convince me that I should do the episodes less frequently because it would be easier to commit to and I had a lot going on. And this is true, of course it would have been easier in many cases. He can see things I can’t. He opens my eyes to the little things that I let turn into big problems in my daily life, like. Like the many notifications on my phone that were keeping me from being as productive as I wanted that I talked about last week. But in this case, I knew what I had to do. I knew what the commitment meant in order to have my podcast be something that people would build into their routines to be important enough that they wanted to dedicate regular time to me to subscribe and come back consistently. I could not be less frequent than once a week. Every other week is too difficult to work into a habit when there are so many other options. You’re expecting the brain to do too much and it’s not going to work well for you. Sure, some people will make it a priority, but not as many people as I wanted to impact with this message. I want everyone to be able to know about how important and valuable behavioral economics is for themselves and their businesses. And for that reason, it needed to be weekly and barring any crazy circumstances, I will never miss. I will stay up until midnight writing or recording before I will miss an episode because I know how important it is. I have had some of you ask me for more content, quite a few actually faithful listeners who tune in every week and say they want even more, which I appreciate and love. I’m so glad you like what you’re hearing and want the content I’m putting out each week. I have also recently started blogging again once a week, which you can find at thebrainybusiness.com and clicking on blog. If you like to take in the content in other ways than just hearing it on the podcast, you can read it there and see images, which is great. It’s a space along with other areas of social media where, like I said, I can show images and work through them, explain them in a way you just can’t get through audio alone. It’s a way I can analyze advertisements and show how you can apply behavioral economics. It’s a really great medium for me. I’m also going to be doing exclusive videos on the Facebook page and YouTube channel, but I am am not willing to add one in until I can maintain the consistency I’ve already committed to at the level you deserve and have become accustomed to while adding in this other item. So I’m not going to add everything at once if it’s going to jeopardize that. I can’t be consistent in the places where I’ve already built a following and a habit. So consistency is a huge key to habit. And now you know why your brain expects it and is looking for those cues. I know many of you get excited to get my emails on Friday mornings, and I know this because you’ve told me. Or to open your podcast app like a kid with an advent calendar wanting to see what is inside this week. And I love that. I’m so happy to provide that for you. You will also notice the habitual style in the content of the episode. They all have the same flow, much like Ellen
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starts with a monologue, then a dance, then talking to the DJ, and then guests, and then games and music at the end. It’s something you get familiar with and your brain likes that. And any show does this and this podcast is the same. It’s a science and there is an art to it. But if I jumped all over the place and it was totally different feel from one episode to the next, it would be too jarring for your brain and it would be harder to make it a habit. I love the podcast and each one of you listening. It means so much to me that you tune in every week. I know many of you came in a few weeks or months after the show started, so you’ve been binging to catch up on episodes, which is awesome. And because the podcast has seen such quick success, I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the tips and brain science behind launching a great podcast. These tips on habit are a couple of them, but there’s so much more to the science of launching a podcast, so it’s worth the work you put into it, and it does take a lot of work. After having so many questions about this, I have decided to use this topic for my very first online course. You’ve been asking for it online courses in general and on, this specific topic, so I want you to know it is coming very soon. If you’ve been thinking about launching a podcast and waiting for that course to help you through to make sure it’s worth it, now is the time. Email melina@thebrainybusiness.com and I can get you on the list, possibly even as a beta tester if you act fast. This is going to be a jam packed course with everything from frequency of episodes to choosing your cover art, writing the description, choosing a title, and more. Again, if you want to leverage the power of a fantastic podcast for your brand and are willing to put in the time to make it happen, email melina@thebrainybusiness.com with the subject line podcast course to be part of the in crowd. I’m so excited to launch this with you.
Conclusion and Upcoming Episode
Melina Palmer: All right, that’s it. Episode 22, The Power of Habit is done. Next week on episode 23, in honor of Thanksgiving here in the States, the topic will be reciprocity, so be sure to tune in next week. Until then, thanks again for listening and learning with me, and remember to be thoughtful.
Announcer: Thank you for listening to The Brainy Business podcast. Melina offers virtual strategy sessions, workshops, and other services to help businesses be more brain friendly. For more free resources, visit thebrainybusiness.com.
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